Each year, the 100th day of school warrants a big celebration for Wareham students.

Students collect 100 objects to display in creative Day 100 projects, parade through school, and sing Day 100 songs.

"We usually bring in 100 marbles, toothpicks, and things like that," third-grader Emilyann Schluter explains. "But this year, I wanted to make a difference."

Day 100 is coming up later this month, but Emilyann began planning for it when school started in September.

The Minot Forest Elementary student wondered if she could collect 100 Barbie dolls to send to children in Haiti. But with shipping and other obstacles, she and her parents, Scott and Sarah Schluter, thought that might be too expensive.

So Emilyann and her parents came up with a simple concept: Raise $200 to purchase 100 meals for Wareham families in need. The money would buy a jar of spaghetti sauce and pasta, to be given to families through the Church of the Good Shepherd's food pantry.

"My parents put it on Facebook and told friends and family," Emilyann noted.

Sarah added: "That's all we did."

As Day 100 drew closer, it became clear that the effort was going to be an overwhelming success.

"We thought it was going to take a long time to get to $200," Sarah explained. "But we got to $600."

Emilyann quickly corrected her mother: "$605!"

So, Emilyann's 100 meals got upgraded.

Emilyann went to Stop & Shop, where her mother works, and purchased 100 boxes of spaghetti, 100 boxes of meat sauce, 100 jars of Parmesan cheese, 100 packages of chocolate and vanilla sandwich cookies, and 100 containers of apple juice, totaling $537. The store also pitched in, and the remaining $68 was donated to the church's food pantry.

On Sunday, Feb. 2, the family brought all the items to the church, and filled 100 bags with 100 meals.

It worked like an assembly line.

"Gavin was the cheese station," Emilyann explained, referring to her 3½-year-old brother.

Emilyann included a note that she typed up herself with each bag. It explained the project.

"My goal was to get 100 people to send me $2 to get $200. But instead I got $605," Emilyann wrote. "Stop and shop helped me. You are one of the families that gets a meal."

And how did Emilyann feel after completing such a worthwhile Day 100 project?

"Glad that I was helping the world," she said.

It was the second time that a Schluter family Facebook campaign took off. Last December, Scott remembered the 20th anniversary of his 16-year-old brother Marc's death with a Facebook effort that encouraged the community to "pay it forward" and do something nice for others during the holiday season. Marc died in a rollover accident on Red Brook Road, just before Christmas in 1992.

That movement took off, with more than 1,000 people across the country performing good deeds in Marc's name.

And Marc helped Emilyann's effort.

"Some of the donations came in memory of Marc," Sarah said.

Emilyann plans to complete the project again next year.

"It's called 'Emilyann's 100 meals,'" she noted with a big smile.